Lower Grey win on 9-25-10

The Lower Grey Buckeyes team continued their winning ways with a convincing 28-6 victory over host Madison Eagles this afternoon. Aaron Pocatko once again led the way with 109 yards rushing (2 for TDs)and 38 yards passing. He also intercepted two passes on defense and returned both for touchdowns including an incredible tight-rope walking 102 yard return that sealed the win for the Buckeyes.The Buckeye defense was also outstanding in shutting down the Eagles with a total of five turnovers. Pocakto recovered a fumble along with Jacob Tackett and Brian Bisbey both recovering fumbles as well. Jacob Zappitelli and Dylan Fitchet both hauled in the two passes that Pocatko attempted with an 8 yarder going to Fitchet and a 30 yarder going to Zappitelli. Fitchet also added 23 yards rushing, and Miguel Delion chipped in an additional 28 yards rushing of his own. The Buckeye defense was also responsible for a total of ten tackles happening behind the line of scrimmage and only allowing 4 first downs for the entire game. It was a total team effort as five separate players accounted for the tackles for loss;  Pocatko, Zappitelli, Delion, Fitchet, and Dale Sheldon. The offensive line got a lot of credit for opening lanes for all the rushers of the Buckeye team, it was anchored by Sheldon at center, Alex Dufala and Antonio Delion at guards, and Tackett and Dominic Ciesicki at tackle.

BCMFL - Lower Grey win on 9-18-10

The lower grey Warriors "pitched" their first shutout of the season in a 14-0 victory over the visiting Madison Browns on Saturday the 18th running their record to 4-1 now making it 4 in a row after our opening game loss. Once again, it was a lot of offense in the first quarter centered around Aaron Pocatko and Dylan Fitchet as the two combined for uncountable yards rushing and passing (need stats Steve! lol) culminating in a early first quarter lead that stayed that way as both teams clamped down on defense the remainder of the game. It should be noted that our second team offense is steadily improving and will begin adding to the offensive touchdowns very soon! Our defense was absolutely Ohio State Buckeye-like showing speed, and finesse (two HUGE interceptions) holding the Browns to a limited number of total yards. I believe they were held to under 100 yards of total offense for the game. Not that the Madison team was a pushover, they certainly showed flashes of offense but, after any positive play, they followed it with being shut down immediately. The Warriors defense looked even better as numerous players made solo tackles, tackles for a loss, and ultimately they had large numbers of players pursuing the ball on both sides of the field and the middle of our defense was impregnable. The kids were obviously very excited as they had achieved what their defensive coach had been asking them to strive for...a zero on the board at the end! We will attempt to keep the winning streak alive next week as we visit Madison to take on the Eagles. Good luck to all our kids and keep up the hard work, it is certainly paying off!

NFL Opener...Saints/Vikings

Who dat team can't beat dem Saints? Who dat? Okay, it wasn't as dramatic as the NFC game from last season by a long shot. It was however an entertaining game for an opener and showed us that the Saints are kind of ready to make a run at defending their title. The opening drive gave me the feeling that we were in for an offensive onslaught due to the ease that Drew Brees breezed the Saints to a quick seven points. (Yes, that was a TERRIBLE play on words but, I digress) Five plays in two minutes did say that the Saints had an opening drive plan that was outstanding period! Brees was on target long, short and in the middle. Jared Allen looked like just another defensive end and the Vikings defense looked like a team that didn't belong on the field. Then, it all changed as the Vikings worked, and I mean worked, their way back into the game with a more recognizable defense and an offense that could move the ball but, couldn't close the deal with any touchdowns in the first half until 45 seconds remained when Brett Farve connected with Visanthe Shiancoe for a 20 yard TD pass. Minnesota was able to muster a total of 168 yards of offense in the first half and that was after a measly 25 yards in the first quarter. On the flip side, New Orleans had a total of 154 yards offensively in the first half but, only managed a paltry 6 yards in the second quarter. (This was definitely a 'Tale of Two Quarters' and again I digress). It was just barely exciting enough to keep me tuned in for the second half. With the Vikings leading at the half 9-7, one thought that maybe this was now going to open up into a shootout type game since Drew and Brett were comfortably warmed up. The Vikings certainly made sure I was wrong with a tremendous 4 play drive followed by a punt. The Saints did come out on their opening drive much like the first half with an 11 play drive culminating in Pierre Thomas bulling his way in the end zone from one yard out to put the Saints back on top 14-9. The remainder of the game was about as exciting as a chess match with six punts between the two teams and one lonely missed field goal by the Saints hero from last year, Garrett Hartley. With 55 total second half yards by the mighty Vikings, one has to wonder what happened to them? Is the loss of Simeon Rice that crushing to their offense? Others will ask if Farve's ankle is really ready for a full game of course and we all know that his personality will not allow him to admit to Brad Childress that he is hurting and should sit. We'll see how Minnesota recovers next week. In the meantime, the Saints weren't exactly lighting it up in the second half either. Yes, they had the opening drive of 74 yards but, they then followed that with drives of four yards and one yard. They were a little more respectable in the final two drives of the fourth quarter gaining 46 and 39 yards respectively. Still, that was a far cry from the team that has been averaging almost 30 points a game for the last couple of seasons. No one was planning on a twelve punt game and less that 350 yards of offense from BOTH teams tonight. (253 from the Vikes and 308 from the Saints but who's counting?) Hey, it happens to the best of teams sometimes and the bottom line is, ugly or not, a win is a win. The Saints began their title defense on the positive note with a win however, they have a lot of film to review over the next nine days to right what was wrong and having watched them the past couple years, they most likely will. The Vikings get tagged with the loss and also have some work to do. They can allow that they adjusted to the Saints vaunted attack well and held them when it counted, the offense just didn't do them any favors. I really don't think this was close to how well these two teams are going to play for the remainder of the season and I'm pretty sure those that have half a clue about football believe that too. I'll be back Saturday night with the results of our BCMFL kids and here's to hoping they fare as well as they have the last couple weeks!

College football opening weekend...

Quite a bit of games to give opinions on and yes, I have opinions! The Florida Gators may have some things to worry about if they can't get their QB/Center connection working correctly. No way will they run the table with 13 mishandled snaps in a game against their division rivals! Alabama says they are not defending a national title but pursuing one this year...I like that approach. They looked like they should as a number 1 ranked team against a lesser division opponent. North Carolina deserves some kudos for making LSU sweat at the end after all the suspensions they were handed just before their opening game. They also deserve a kick in the ass for getting those suspensions just before their opening game. LSU should be VERY worried with the way their offense sputtered against 2nd and 3rd stringers from UNC. Ole Miss lost to Jacksonville State. EWWWW! Stink game of the week goes to Ole Miss for their lack of performance. Oregon lit up the score board to the tune of 59-0 AT HALF TIME! They preserved the shutout and got a lot of playtime for non-starters. UConn blew their chance to put Rich Rodriguez right on the hot seat with a late fumble ending any momentum to make a run at Michigan. The Wolverines QB looked very comfortable in his role in their wide open offense and other Big 10 teams have got to take notice. Their will be defenses set up to shut him down and it will be up to Michigan to see if they have a plan B or if this was all they had to go with...we'll see. I'm betting this is all they have though. Notre Dame looked like the Notre Dame of old for a little while under Brian Kelly debut as their head coach. Purdue is no slouch and the Fighting Irish may have something to say about the BCS at the end of the season finally! Not the prettiest but, the end result is what the Irish faithful wanted to see. A game I forgot from Thursday...Pittsburgh is going down on the rankings from 15 to around 24 or 25 I'm betting after being upset by Utah. Georgia, Iowa, and Penn State rolled in their openers as expected.The remaining ranked teams pretty much did what is also expected as far as the competition they played and will retain their rankings or move up one slot after Pitt's drop. Big game of the week next week has got to be the Ohio State/Miami game as a lot of people want to see how the Buckeyes look against a ranked opponent. I don't see an upset from the 'Canes but, OSU isn't going to just roll right over them either. Pryor could make an early statement towards his pursuit of the Heisman as long as the line performs their jobs...should be a fun game to watch! That's all for my College wrap-up! See ya on the flip side! Oh, and of course congrats to my sons team on their 28-7 victory over visiting Conneaut Steelers.

Buckeye opener/Final Browns preseason

 So the Buckeyes were definitely clicking on offense and that was a big check on the things to do list for them. They have had some early season issues lately so it was nice to see Terrelle Pryor making better decisions. I would like to see him get rid of the ball just a hair quicker because he is not going to get that kind of time against a major college team. Miami is fats on defense much like the Buckeyes are and we'll see that difference early next week as they will try to get pressure on Pryor early and often. The Hurricanes are getting better each season the last few years and have some lofty goals of their own for this season.  I expect a much closer game next week but, after realizing that bringing that much pressure to Pryor and finding out he can run like a cheetah, the Buckeyes will have the separation in score they need to get the 'W'. Score prediction: Buckeyes 34 Hurricanes 24. Pryor will have about 90 yards rushing and just over 200 passing. I see Saine hitting the century mark again with around 115 and Boom Herron getting another 75. We have too much firepower on offense for Miami to stop everything. Our defense will be tested but, will adjust in the second half and keep the ball in the offenses hands. The Browns Colt McCoy was wondering if his preseason could get any worse and after the very first snap he found out....YES! However, after the fumbles snap he settled into a decent flow and moved the ball down field allowing Montario Hardesty to display what could be for us at running back. That is before he once again went down with a knee injury. He walked off on his own power but, one has to wonder if he may become a player who has all the talent in the world but cannot avoid the injury bug. One would hope not but, this is Cleveland after all and whatever bad that can happen, does! We'll see what the report is on him with a couple extra recovery days does and go from there. As has been said before, I hope the Browns defense has some other plan for getting pressure on our opponents quarterbacks once the regular season begins or we could see our team getting torched a lot and we do not yet have the explosive type of offense to try and play score for score with anyone yet. One never knows what will happen until the season gets rolling and that it does next week against Tampa Bay so for my first prediction, I'm going with my heart and not my head and saying the Browns shock in the opener and take a surprise win on the road to open the season with a 20-17 win thanks once again to Phil Dawson and his automatic leg when the game is on the line...GO BROWNS!